When completed later this year, Demerara Distillers Limited’s US$5 million state-of-the-art bio-methanization plant will become the company’s flagship of its green initiative.
“The flagship of DDL’s green initiatives is the state-of-the-art bio-methanization plant, which will allow for the redirection of the distillery waste water for processing, for the generation of clean energy,” the company’s annual report said.
According to the report, this clean energy will decrease DDL’s carbon footprint by significantly reducing the net amount of greenhouse gases emitted. Consequently, the bio-mechanization project will qualify for carbon credits as clean technology under the United Nation’s Kyoto Protocol for combatting climate change. The plant comprises three silos, 200 ft in diameter and 20 ft in height and a holding pond of 95 ft in length and a depth of 6 ft. The methane produced from this plant will provide energy for firing DDL’s boilers. Later, the methane will be used to provide power for the generation sets.
According to the report, “several years ago DDL embarked on an ambitious and remarkable journey to transform its production facility to outfit, equipped with its own clean energy producing plant,” the report said. “That concept has since expanded to include every aspect of the company’s operations impacting every department and member of staff,” the report added.
Chairman of the DDL Group Yesu Persaud, in his report, said the plant “is in the commission phase with two of the three tanks in operation.” About 30 per cent of Bunker C is being replaced with methane gas, he said. According to him, the third tank will be operational this month after which the facility will be commissioned in June. “It is anticipated that 65% of the Bunker C will be replaced when this plant becomes fully operational in the latter half of 2011,” Persaud said.
In recent years, the company has made improvements to its distillery. According to the company, this has resulted in “significant efficiencies in the utilization of raw materials and the consequent lower cost of production”. In 2009, the company’s new, fully automated bottling plant became operational. The plant, according to the report, has enabled the company to increase its production capacity. The installed capacitor banks, the report added, has allowed for the improvement of power and the minimizing of wastage.
